This combo is one of the brightest jewels in the Dead's lustrous combo-crown. Let's examine its history....

The biggest surprise for me in doing this research was discovering that there are only 9 versions of this medley that do not involve either additional songs or a drum session:
11/1/73: It first appears in an era that is widely considered a pinnacle for the band.
12/1/73
6/30/74: The last one for a long time.

At the beginning of the sequence in the 3/23/74, there's a funny false start to Playing. I think this is the show where Bobby announces there's a 40' cockroach in the new sound system and they are going to iron him out right now! Funny shit!

Maybe I should have clarified (for all you gear-grinding newbies out there ): If they don't actually SING it ain't a real reprise. That's a rule you can look up.

And, it would have been too difficult to list all the times they went into a Playin' jam after UJB.

Here's where it gets difficult, and I've wondered about this before. DeadBase online lists the first Playin Reprise as 10/12/84. Deadlists lists 6/22/76 as being the first. Setlists.net lists 5/19/77 and Setlist.com lists 6/18/83. I consider the reprises out of the '72 jams to be the firsts. However, it still seems that the definition isn't as clear-cut as say, a Truckin Reprise.

I think a return to the theme, slightly adjusted, is a reprise. Singing is not required, but all singing versions are by definition also reprises. I remember we had a thread about what comprises a reprise, and it is really just a varied return to the theme.

I think a return to the theme, slightly adjusted, is a reprise. Singing is not required, but all singing versions are by definition also reprises. I remember we had a thread about what comprises a reprise, and it is really just a varied return to the theme.

Now, how deadheads list it, that's another story...

I list that as a Playin Jam. IMO Playin reprise is the...reprise, with the "Playin, like a wave upon the sand..." verse.
Also, to answer Chinarider, they list the 1st Playin Reprise as 10/12/84 because I think that was the first time it was played at a show separate from Playin.
Playin was done the night before and they decided to finish it up on the 12th.

Maybe I should have clarified (for all you gear-grinding newbies out there ): If they don't actually SING it ain't a real reprise. That's a rule you can look up.

And, it would have been too difficult to list all the times they went into a Playin' jam after UJB.

Here's where it gets difficult, and I've wondered about this before. DeadBase online lists the first Playin Reprise as 10/12/84. Deadlists lists 6/22/76 as being the first. Setlists.net lists 5/19/77 and Setlist.com lists 6/18/83. I consider the reprises out of the '72 jams to be the firsts. However, it still seems that the definition isn't as clear-cut as say, a Truckin Reprise.

I see Duderino got the jump on me, but here's my take on it with added absurd details that glorify my personal experiences....

Here's the progression:
71-72: PITB began and ended with lyrics, but there was never, no matter how long the jam, an interruption of the song with another song or drums.

Late 73 onward: With the arrival of intervening material "Playin' Reprise" became a song all by itself. But (and this is important) because the reprise always occurred at the same show there was no need to refer to the return to lyrics as "Playin' Reprise" because everybody knew what was going on.

10/12/84 and onward: This marks the first time "Playin' Reprise" occurred without a start-up PITB at the same show to kick things off. Thus the "Playin' Reprise" labeling became necessary for clarity.

As for Koch's assertion that a "Playin' Reprise" counts even if no lyrics get sung, I strongly disagree (where's that "Fuck You" thread? ).

I rest my case on the emotional and visceral response I had when, after being teased for many years by lame "instrumental reprises," the Boys actually brought the Mother Ship back home and sang the reprise at the precise moment that Cosmic Righteousness demanded. BOOM! The difference between an instrumental reprise and a sung reprise is huge.

I was lucky enough to be present for the last PITB > UJB > PITB played (6/23/90), and also caught the "full" PITB they played at Laguna Seca, 7/29/88. I think the full version at Laguna Seca was the first time they had played an uninterrupted PITB since early '77 (4/22/77?). The audience response to them bringing the jam back around to the lyrics was incredible in both instances. An instrumental reprise is small beer.

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I think a return to the theme, slightly adjusted, is a reprise. Singing is not required, but all singing versions are by definition also reprises. I remember we had a thread about what comprises a reprise, and it is really just a varied return to the theme.

Now, how deadheads list it, that's another story...

I list that as a Playin Jam. IMO Playin reprise is the...reprise, with the "Playin, like a wave upon the sand..." verse.

It is fine you have that opinion, however, by the definition of the word, you are wrong. Reprise need not include singing.

A reprise is simply put: repeat an earlier theme of a composition

Singing is not a requirement, so argue against the english language all you want, BUT, know that you are wrong in the end. Live experiences are not really a requirement, as enjoyable as they may have been.

I agree with your definition, koch, but I'm not sure I agree with (or, rather, don't understand) what you mean by "theme." The "theme" that's being reprised in a Playin' Reprise is the riff that opens the song and/or the body of the song itself, not just the general theme of a Playin' jam. Right? Just returning the Playin' jam (which in mind is identifiable by being some kind of melodic variation on the Main Ten riff) doesn't really constitute a reprise of the main theme.

Have they ever reprised/finished a Playin' by returning to the body of the song itself but without actually singing the final vocals? That to me would constitute a legit wordless Playin' Reprise.

I think a return to the theme, slightly adjusted, is a reprise. Singing is not required, but all singing versions are by definition also reprises. I remember we had a thread about what comprises a reprise, and it is really just a varied return to the theme.

Now, how deadheads list it, that's another story...

I list that as a Playin Jam. IMO Playin reprise is the...reprise, with the "Playin, like a wave upon the sand..." verse.

It is fine you have that opinion, however, by the definition of the word, you are wrong. Reprise need not include singing.

A reprise is simply put: repeat an earlier theme of a composition

Singing is not a requirement, so argue against the english language all you want, BUT, know that you are wrong in the end. Live experiences are not really a requirement, as enjoyable as they may have been.

It's sad that Garcia's death marooned so many promising deadheads in their larval stage; doomed to never know the ecstatic joys of a live performance of the "Playin' Reprise," with de rigeur lyrics, accompanied by a competent keyboardist. And yet, verily I say, even I have never known the pinnacle of "Playin' Reprise" joy since I never was privileged to experience the Most Blessed Wailing of Donna to commence the proceedings.

We are all wandering in outer dark, my friends. The river is wide, the waters are deep, the burritos are too big, and the lines at the port-a-potties are too long.

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Once again for another "Dead for the advanced Deadhead" lesson Zephyr. This is really amazing, and rather thought provoking.

Here is a question, should 4-24-72 Dark Star>MAMU>Dark Star be written as Dark Star>MAMU>Dark Star Reprise? From what I remember the second Star was more of a theme and didn't have lyrics.

Also here is another random thought that pertains to setlist makers, (not including those actually make the setlist, The Grateful Dead). At the end of 3-15-90's Lady With A Fan>Terrapin Station there is a jam on the official release ,Terrapin Limited, called Mock Turtle Jam. Considering this is jam is still technically a part of the Terrapin, was that silly name necessary?

At the end of 3-15-90's Lady With A Fan>Terrapin Station there is a jam on the official release ,Terrapin Limited, called Mock Turtle Jam. Considering this is jam is still technically a part of the Terrapin, was that silly name necessary?

Given that Lady With a Fan is technically a part of Terrpain, why label it separately?

Terrapain is a suite of music, so maybe someone thought an extended jam warranted a separate name? Maybe it's a marketing idea to draw more attention to the cd's tracklist?

I also suspect that these odd labellings are done on official releases for publishing reasons, or to get some more songwriting credits for Phil, Brent, Billy, Mickey, etc. I remember reading that on 100 Year Hall, the Other One is purposely mislabelled "Cryptical Envelopment" because Garcia was "owed" a songwriting credit for Cryptical appearing on a different official release, but not being labelled as such (and therefore Bobby got the credit for what was Jerry's song). That kind of stuff doesn't matter to heads listening to the music and wondering who the hell came up with names like "Mud Love Buddy Jam" or "Orange Tango Jam" or whatever, but I'm sure it matters a lot to a musician in a band that'a engaged in a lot of collective improvisation, but rarely gets any song credits on their albums.

Here is a question, should 4-24-72 Dark Star>MAMU>Dark Star be written as Dark Star>MAMU>Dark Star Reprise? From what I remember the second Star was more of a theme and didn't have lyrics.

That's a good point, but I'm never going to label it that way because I think Dark Star Reprise looks silly

Short justification: There are only two examples of a Dark Star "reprise" that functions as Playin Reprise does, completing the song that was begun in a previous show. Those two would be 12/14/90 (which finishes 12/12) and 12/16/92 (which also finishes 12/12...hmm). You could make a case that this also happens on 8/17/91 (finishing 8/16), except that they don't actually sing the second verse, just play the melody (and Jerry bails in a under a minute anyway, so you could also make a case for just counting this as another Bruce-led DS tease.

Longer justification: Dark Star didn't usually serve as an envelope for other songs in the same way that Playin did, and therefore I don't think we would need a separate "reprise" label for the few times that Dark Star was played in this way. Dark Star was rarely split to include other songs. There's 6/24/70 (DS>Attics>DS>Sugarmag>DS), then a handful of DS>othersong>DS sandwiches from 71 and the one you mentioned from 4/24/72, then 12/31/78 DS>O1>DS (that second DS is teeny and leads right into Wharf Rat, btw). There's one more DS sandwich from 9/20/90, which contains the Playin Reprise that completes 9/19's Playin.

Playin, on the other hand, was routinely opened up to include multiple other songs starting in 76. I imagine that part of the band's conception of Playin was that it could function as an envelope spanning the course of a whole jam or even a whole set. Dark Star (or the rare few Dark Star sandwiches) always felt like a single occurance, not the starting point, ending point, or midpoint of a much larger jam. This happened only twice: 10/16/89 and 9/26/91. 10/16/89 is made even more interesting in this regard, since it overlaps with Playin which also serves the same envelope function in the same set! I suppose you could also say that 6/17/91 sort of has the same purpose, but the opposite effect: instead of book-ending a set, it fills in the cracks.

Otherwise, the rest of the 90's "split" Dark Stars are just Dark Star > drums > space > Dark Star. Those would be the ones from 3/29/90, 10/20/90, 11/1/90, 4/1/91, 9/10/91, and 10/31/91.

So, therefore, there's no need to label a Dark Star Reprise in the same way that we already have a Playin Reprise.

EDIT: I plead guilty to a full-on hijacking of a thread that's entitled Playin>UJB>Playin.